Traditional African culture has an important place in our modern South African democracy.

Our culture is the root system of our society, yet it is rapidly being lost due to urbanisation, global communications, mass media etc. Traditional values are being degraded and lost, with nothing taking their place except superficial western modes of behaviour. Western TV soaps take the place of traditional stories & white bread and Coke replace traditional foods.

In any culture the finest clothes, the best food and drinks, the most joyful songs and dances and the happiest people come together in celebration. There is very little documented material on traditional African wedding ceremonies – most couples these days get married in a ‘white wedding’ ceremony.

In order to preserve the traditional surrounding cultural weddings, The Shaster Foundation is documenting a traditional wedding ceremony, and all that it entails to inspire our youth with pride in their own culture, for posterity and for South Africa. The purpose of this project is to show how two modern and prominent South Africans celebrate their culture and honour their roots to enrich and strengthen their lives. We hope to inspire many couples to go back to their roots instead of adopting the pale, western alternative of a white wedding.

In the spring of 2008 the families of Dizu Plaatjies and Vuyokazi Mbewu formed a bond of marriage deep in the heart of the Eastern Cape. Traditional costumes, food, singing, dancing and negotiations created the most spectacular wedding South Africa has seen in many years.